Editor’s Note:There are precious few places in America like Wilde Yarn, with a building that dates back to 1884 and machinery that clattered away from the 1930s until just a few years ago. The mill was finally dismantled this summer, another missed opportunity to preserve the legacy of Philadelphia’s once-mighty textile industry. This wasn’t the fault of the new owners, Peter Bloomfield and Scott Janzen; there is no textile museum, nor even a nascent movement to create one. Bloomfield and Janzen did the next best thing, though: they opened the doors to photographers both amateur and professional. Here then is the work of eight of them: Brendan Clinch, Steven Bley, Ethan Wallace, King Krush, Noel Relyea, Thomas Troutman, Matthew Christopher, and Jenissa Wilson. We chose just three images from each person. You can see more of their work by clicking on their names, which link to their websites. For our story on Janzen and Bloomfield’s project to convert the mill to apartments, click HERE.

I got to walk through this building back in August. The thing that really impressed me was the floors. Walking on hardwood that had seen 120+ years of heavy industrial traffic was amazing, they felt soft under your feet. It’s a really impressive building.

Speakeasies are all the rage these days. The revival finds its roots in secret cocktail lounges that opened after the 18th Amendment was ratified in 1920. Pennsylvania got a head start and outlawed alcohol in 1919. Amy Cohen takes a look back at Philadelphia during Prohibition on the 100-year anniversary of the ban > more

Like a chain-smoking phoenix rising from the ashes, the infamous Parker Hotel at 13th and Spruce reopened in 2018 after major renovations and decades of decline. Hidden City contributor Stacia Friedman takes a look back at the former transient hotel with memories of her grandparents' pharmacy next door > more